COVID-19 Policy Update #251
COVID-19 Policy Update
MONDAY 5/10
TOP THREE
FDA Authorizes Pfizer Vaccine for 12-15 Year Olds: FDA announcement.
The CDC's vaccine advisory committee has scheduled a meeting Wednesday to review the data and is expected to approve the extension of the EUA.
Studies conducted by Pfizer showed the vaccine not only was safe for teenagers, but also nearly eliminated all risk of catching COVID-19 - a level of effectiveness that was greater than that of adults.
Nearly 17 million adolescents are eligible for the vaccine. Nearly half of those are people of color, including one in four who are Hispanic, 13.4% are Black and 4.8% are Asian.
Parent Vaccine Hesitancy: Survey finds differing parental reluctance with vaccinating their children based on gender, income, politics
Surveyed 22,000 people between April and May.
About 34% of those earning less than $25,000 a year were resistant to vaccinating their children against COVID-19 compared to 5% of parents earning more than $150,000 a year.
33% of Republication parents were resistant to COVID-19 vaccines for their children compared to 7% of Democrats
School Reopenings, Mobility, and COVID-19 Spread: Evidence from Texas: NBER paper
"In Texas, reopenings often occurred alongside high community spread and at near capacity, making it difficult to meet social distancing recommendations."
"We find robust evidence that reopening Texas schools gradually but substantially accelerated the community spread of COVID-19. Results from our preferred specification imply that school reopenings led to at least 43,000 additional COVID-19 cases and 800 additional fatalities within the first two months."
"We then use SafeGraph mobility data to provide evidence that spillovers to adults’ behaviors contributed to these large effects. Median time spent outside the home on a typical weekday increased substantially in neighborhoods with large numbers of school-age children, suggesting a return to in-person work or increased outside-of-home leisure activities among parents."
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Children and COVID-19: AAP's State-Level Data Report
3.9 million total child COVID-19 cases reported, and children represented 14% of all cases.
Children were 1.2%-3.1% of total reported hospitalizations, and between 0.1%-1.9% of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in hospitalization
Children were 0.00%-0.21% of all COVID-19 deaths.
Community Transmission: New study finds most transmission occurred within households, not places of work (or schools):
"The evidence suggests that “households show the highest transmission rates” and that “households are high-risk settings for the transmission of [COVID-19]." Schools, businesses, and other organizations implemented a range of prevention protocols – from adjusting airflow to installing physical barriers to monitoring compliance to administering their own testing services – that households did not, and perhaps could not."
"On an hourly basis, the schools studied were more than four times as safe as the places frequented by students and staff when not in school."
Brazilian Study: Children not COVID-19 'superspreaders'. Study.
"In our setting, children do not seem to be the source of SARS CoV-2 infection and most frequently acquire the virus from adults. Our findings suggest that in settings such as ours, schools and childcare potentially may be reopened safely if adequate COVID-19 mitigation measures are in place and staff are appropriately immunized."
School Closures in Germany: A new study finds school closures did not contain the spread of the coronavirus in Germany
"In line with our results on school closures, we find concerns about the return to full-schooling capacity after the summer holidays to be unsubstantiated. Infections among children and adults did not rise with the start of the new academic year."
"Instead, infections appear to have increased in the last weeks of the summer holidays and declined in the days after reopening "
STATE
California:
Students, community organizations ask judge to order mental health services, internet access. Among their requests, the plaintiffs are asking the court to order the state to:
Determine which students lack devices and connectivity and ensure that districts immediately provide them;
Ensure that all students and teachers have access to adequate mental health supports;
Provide weekly outreach to families of all low-income Black or Latino students to aid in transitioning back to in-person learning through August 2022;
Provide a statewide plan to ensure that districts put in place programs to remedy the learning loss caused by remote learning
Only 7% of LAUSD high school students return to reopened campuses, far less than expected.
About 30% of elementary school children have returned and 12% of middle school students
Connecticut:
School districts weigh remote learning for next year
The governor announced applications are open for the Connecticut College Corps Program
It partners with local colleges and universities to recruit 500 higher education students to participate in summer programs for children. Participants will receive training on social-emotional health, equity, diversity, and academic training to support the summer programs.
Nevada: Nevada aims to build out distance learning 1.0 into permanent option
"Statewide, a bill inspired by the work of the “Blue Ribbon Commission for a Globally Prepared Nevada” seeks to compel all districts to make a plan for virtual education and ensure students have access to technology."
"Senate Bill 215 would also do away with the traditional number of days that distance learning students must spend in a grade, allowing them to move through school as they master skills instead."
Utah: Jordan School District launches new online academy available to students statewide
Virginia:
Alexandria schools to offer in-person, virtual choice for fall
Henrico, VA is launching Henrico Virtual Academy, a K-12 virtual school, next year.
Washington:
Richland Virtual School is now Pacific Crest Online Academy and has begun accepting enrollments for next year.
Starting next fall, remote learning options will not be offered at Battle Ground Public Schools’ comprehensive buildings. However, students have three other options:
River Online Learning (ROL) is an accredited program that offers online courses to students in grades K-12.
River HomeLink (hybrid and at-home option)
Summit View High School is an alternative high school that offers flexible scheduling and personalized learning.
West Virginia: Schools Superintendent Clayton Burch discusses mental health response, recovery after pandemic
“Prior to the pandemic, I had talked about how West Virginia was already a state in crisis,” Burch said. “We led the nation in opioid deaths and were one of the top states in the nation in poverty and homelessness, with more than 7,000 children in foster care."
“This idea that mental health and social-emotional wellness was important to our children and families, really started prior to the pandemic, whether it was through Communities in Schools or bringing in health clinics and social workers to be in schools.”
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
COVID Scatters Tech Hubs: Via Axios
Entrepreneurial Cities: New study targets secrets of great entrepreneurial cities
"New study analyzing millions of people's personality traits shows that cities with more open-minded people are also better at entrepreneurship. Open-mindedness enhances diverse interactions and improves the flow of knowledge and ideas."
The Breakout Cities on the Forefront of America’s Economic Recovery: Via WSJ. Rising stars such as Greenville, S.C., Des Moines, Iowa, and Provo, Utah, built out vibrant economies even before the pandemic; now, they are drawing new workers and businesses.
Has the Pandemic Changed Cities Forever? Via Richmond Fed: COVID-19 transformed how we work and socialize, which could put the future of cities on a new path.
"Workers aren’t completely leaving San Francisco or New York, but they are moving out from the center of cities to the suburbs,” says Bloom. “And that’s entirely rational if you think post-pandemic you will only come into the office three days a week. You are less sensitive to a long commute, and you appreciate having more space at home if you will be spending more time there.”
“The pandemic has basically accelerated 25 years’ worth of telework growth into one year,” says Bloom"
RESOURCES
Remote Kindergarten During Covid-19 ‘Could Impact This Generation of Kids for Their Lifetime’: Via WSJ
Catholic Schools Are Losing Students at Record Rates, and Hundreds Are Closing: Via WSJ: Pandemic-fueled economic woes exacerbate schools’ challenge.
"At least 209 of the country’s nearly 6,000 Catholic schools have closed over the past year, according to the National Catholic Educational Association."
"Enrollment in schools run by the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles was down 12% at the start of this school year. In the Archdiocese of New York, enrollment was down 11%."
"When schools closed last spring, Catholic education officials said, many families were unwilling to keep paying tuition for remote learning."
Schools Are Open, but Many Families Remain Hesitant to Return: Via NYT
Federal Education Policies Will Trigger a Second Wave of Learning Loss: Via Joel Rose
Homework Gap May Be the Key to Closing the Digital Divide: Schools across the country during the past year of distance learning have had access to important data on who has access to broadband and who doesn't.
Yesterday We Celebrated Mothers: Today, a dad's post-game press conference reviews some of the day's failures.